Voice
by Graboids
Summary: No one is truly sane everyone has a spark of madness within them though most never have to deal with it. A very unfortunate few are broke inside like Ryan Walters. Ryan Walters is from the year 2019 when he is thrown into the heart of the Mass effect universe . Most people would strive to do good however with a poor moral compass like Ryan anything is possible. OC
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: I do not own the mass effect franchise nor any assets of it. **

It is a very sunny day today and im not sure where I am. It's so bright I can't even see it's as if someone was shining a searchlight two feet in front of my face it all feels so unfamiliar I can't even describe it, why can't I remember the last time I have been outside? Why would I even think that I have been outside lots of times , I swear my mind gets so lost at times

"Ryan are you spacing out on me?" spoke a very familiar feminine voice

I turned and saw Mary, my wife with her gorgeous with her serene like features that would calm anyones nerve, myself especially. She looked exactly as I recall she had gorgeous blonde hair and deep blue eyes, she was breathtaking I have to say. She looked at me as if i had grown a second head waiting for my very delayed response to her.

"Mary?" I dumbly stated as if I havent seen her in years but that would be silly we have been together for years. Whats wrong with me? She is a very beautiful women I have to say but that doesnt mean I'll fall into a state of mental idiocy every time I see her. I must not be getting a lot of sleep lately I say to myself hoping I can convince my paranoia to be ignorant just a little longer, though of what I cannot say its I just have a feeling of dread of whats about to happen.

"Its a beautiful day isnt it?" she stated as she gestured to the admittedly very beautiful view that laid before me. There was a pristine lake just below as we sat down on the grassy hill, it felt so soft as the grass tickled my hands. The Sun was in the midst of setting as its dwindling rays shimmered upon the lake giving it such a beautiful effect. It was about as cliché as you could ever imagine but I was alright with cliché.

Her hand caressed my light rough beard that felt right yet wrong? I understood her intentions and I did have deep desire to make those intentions reality but a larger part of me says I shouldn't.

"I can't Mary" as I brush off her caressing hand

"Why?" she looks at me full of wonder

"Your not really here..." I dejectedly spoke. She looked at me with a distraught look as she simply faded away as did the rest of the terrain that laid around me. Instead of the pristine view I was greeted with padded walls around me. I sat there with my patients fatigues on my very typical patients bed with any chance of freedom blocked off by the locked metal door.

My name is Ryan Walters and I am a paranoid schizophrenic at least that's what my therapist says others say i'm just a psycho. Locked up here in this pysch ward for the alleged crime of murder and violation of my wife. I know I didn't though, I couldn't have...I just loved her too much. Unless that killed her? no its impossible It just cant be me...

_"you know you did..." _whispered a voice

"FUCK YOU" I yell only greeted by the cruel silence of the empty room. I wish I could be all alone but I cant, not with my fellow passenger I have simply called "voice" constantly talking to me.

_"Cmon it was kinda fun, wasnt it?" _it cheerfully said

"We have been over this I couldn't have, all the evidence was circumstantial and your just a figment of my imagination just...just a reflection of me..." I trailed off

"_Dont forget im your only friend" _added voice cheerfully

I couldn't help but laugh not in a healthy way mind you but more in a deranged cackling sort of way. As the voice as usual was right, my family and friends had cut off all connections with me after learning what I did and I can't really blame them as forgiveness is near impossible after even allegedly doing that sort of thing.

"_Indeed now are we done pointing out the obvious? I'm dreadfully bored with you droning on" _stated voice.

"Voice" as I have called him is the manifestation of my insanity, and so far all attempts by my therapist and me have been ineffective in getting rid of him. I know he isn't real but if he's not real then every word spoken by him would simply be mine and I don't know if I can accept that. But it isn't so bad, at times he is pretty funny if a little morbid but that's just him or myself I suppose. I couldn't help but laugh at my absurd thoughts, I found it to be genuinely hilarious.

Sighing I knew that only action I could take now was to go to sleep and repeat exactly what I did today and continue this process for the rest of my life I imagine.

"_we could escape you know_" whispered voice

"And go where?' i couldn't believe how thick "voice" could be at times. There is nothing out there for me.

"_Anywhere but here. Besides don't you feel angry at being locked up here?"_

Voice was right. I HATED BEING HERE! And maybe I will take a chance out there in the real world. Anger filled me I just needed to get out. I'm sick of being treated like an animal caged here. I am a human, I deserve to treated like one.

I strode over to the door trying to force it anyway I could. All my attempts were futile though and my ruckus had attracted the lone guard. Fortunately for me he wasnt the most physically built man in the world in fact he was getting a little on the tubby side I might say. Defeating him would be no challenge at all, as I did serve in the military hell I even became Lieutenant.

"_Those memories are so fun to delve into, I like the part where you killed people especially when it was up close and personal"_

"HEY YOU STOP THAT, don't make me come in their" said the guard in the most clichéd way you could ever imagine

"_How rude didn't even say please, lets bash his head in"_

"Make me" I snapped in a very juvenile way.

"THAT'S IT, freaks like you need to be taught some respect"

He was fumbling for the keys as if he fully expected me to cower in fear in his reign of terror. I however merely reached my arm outside the cell grabbing his collar and slammed his head straight into the door. HIs gaze upon me was one of utter shock and disbelief, I figured he had to be new at this to make such a rookie mistake.

I heard a groan and was vehemently surprised that he retained consciousness after such a crushing blow to his cranium. So to compensate I simply pushed him back and slammed his back into the door about three more times for good measure. I could see quite a bit of blood dripping off his head, satisfied I threw him away letting him collapse to the ground.

Thankfully for me the key he had been within easy reach underneath the door. I have never felt so thankful for poor construction of this ward in my life. Holding it in my hands felt surreal as the prospect of freedom seemed impossible until now anyway. The door unlocked, gripping my hand at the door knob i slowly pushed it open giving off a glorious creaking sound, stepping through it felt great. I took a moment to bask in the freedom that I earned

"_Were not out of the woods yet, run!" _

"Yeah" I ran as fast as I could, I could feel my heart thumping against my chest ready to burst out at the sheer adrenaline I felt. I ran and ran straight into the woods hoping that my escape would not be hampered.

_"go right" _voice whispered

Silently agreeing I headed in that direction until I finally saw a warehouse. It looked like it had not been used in years which is what it should be like as I owned this warehouse at voice's heeding anyway.

Heading inside I found the supplies and the bed I had installed in here. I silently thanked my paranoid nature in preparing such an elaborate hideout. Knowing I only had a very limited time before I had to get out of here before the authorities would catch me. But before I even tried to go ahead with my plan I figured it would be nice just to how I look like now after my very long time in that ward. I noticed I still had the manly physique from military days though my face was not nearly as handsome as I was back then, I looked quite deranged and it seemed like I havent slept in days as very prominent bags under my eyes. Thankfully my light dirty blonde beard and somewhat short haircut were still intact.

"_I think we might be pushing on 25 years old soon"_

Then suddenly my vision started to become filled with static as everything became gradually darker. I knew then I was blacking out, damn it not know im on the precipice of my escape I cant pass out now.

All the strength to my legs left as I fell to the hard floor.

Feeling only the cold floor beneath me, I felt slight relief at that as I could be still in the warehouse. I felt something bright upon me, opening my eyes I realized something wasnt right. I was in the same warehouse yet I saw creatures that looked like Salarians and Turians. Looking up I saw the arms of the citadel.

"Damn it, a delusion? now?"


	2. Chapter 2

Now I wasn't totally surprised about being in the Citadel I have had delusions like this before. One time I had a hallucination where I was in a bond film, it was actually quite a blast of fun filled with all the car chases, sexy babes, and all the cool gadgets anyone with a taste for immature fun could ask for. Others delusions aren't so fun...

"_We must be dreaming you did black out" _

"Yeah, now what to do?" Since this is a dream I guess I could always kill myself that would wake me up. But I don't think I'll risk it last time I tried to get out of one of these delusions through that way I almost ended up killing myself in the real world. It was a good thing I was under watch at the ward at that time. Alright Ryan let's think this through in every delusion you have been in there was always a door or some sort of exit that would lead us out of here.

"_That or follow the rules"_

"What do you mean?"

"_Simple just act like you belong"_

Hah acting like I belong that's what I always did when I was a Lieutenant or simply just anytime I was around other I had Voice to decipher what was going on as he makes excellent points as almost always, besides I did like the Mass Effect franchise. I can't wait to delve into this universe and all the adventures it will have in store in for me.

"_Hopefully these adventures are filled with glorious violence, its been so long since we got some real fun"_

Voice may want to enjoy violence simply for the sake of violence I however would not mind-blowing off some steam by killing some fictional baddies. I guess we will simply explore for a bit,quickly scanning around I noticed some clothes and an omnitool just sitting besides some trash cans. They weren't too shabby in fact they were merely thrown away here recently, I have no idea who would throw away some clothes and a omnitool on the ground but right now I couldn't be too picky considering the circumstances.

"_Great now we are wearing some clothes right off the floor, at least restrain yourself from eating gum you find on the floor"_

"Quit your whining, it's better than some mental patients fatigues"

"_Your clothes __are of a similar appearance to the Illusive man or any rich snob in this universe I imagine, this fashion is terrible"_

"Nothing pleases you it seems" I have to say this clothing was very comfortable, so comfortable I might ignore the tacky appearance of just about all Mass effect clothing in general but more importantly I needed find out where I even am and when. Unfortunately the place I was in happened to be in a maze of alleyways at least it had a convenient abandoned warehouse that would allow me to hide away easily if I ever needed to.

Surprisingly the omnitool was incredibly easy to equip and use. You would have to try to not understand it. It had a big "ON" icon that required no explanation on what that did and anything else I wanted was now at my fingertips. Now what year is it?

After some searching that took about ten seconds at the most, I quickly found out that the year was 2182. So that would make me about a year early before the events of mass effect one. This tidbit of information however was useless to me as I have no clue of what I want to do. Most people I assume might want to go and help Shepard but I wasn't entirely sure if I should do that. I could mess everything up though helping save the entire galaxy would be great, I should...I should...I don't know what I should do...

"_Would it even matter if everyone died? You don't know anybody here, our real world is out there and so far your delusion has been sooooo boring"_

"I guess your right, lets find the exit out of here so we can finally escape"

That's when I heard footsteps creeping up to me, turning around quickly I saw a Salarian with a pistol pointed straight at me. He looked rather young wearing some of that terrible clothing they wear, his aim kept on veering from side to side as if he never truly used it which in the case for punks like this guy I would imagine that they don't typically have the greatest training in the world if any.

"Gi.. give me your valuables and I ..I wont shoot" stuttered the Salarian

Fortunately for him I had wandered off into some of the more empty alleyways leaving me and him to be sole individuals around for quite a big distance I would imagine. It seems diplomacy is my only option right now as he was a decent distance away from me allowing him to shoot me dead and from this distance accuracy wont matter.

_"Are we seriously being mugged by the nerd of the Mass Effect universe? This is pathetic, he better die soon"_

"Alright I will give you what you want, just don't shoot me ok?" I stated calmly hoping that would placate him. I saw him easing up foolishly believing that he was in total control of the situation and to my good fortune he sauntered over to me until we were in arm's length of each other.

"Now ha-" He started however I gave him no time as I quickly grabbed at him easily pulling the gun out of his hand this caused him to lose balance which I took advantage of and gave a good shove throwing him to the hard ground. He made a comical grunt when he slammed into the ground. Now I was the one in control, I placed my boot upon his neck giving enough pressure to be uncomfortable but not enough to lazily tried to get my foot off his neck but I was too strong for him.

"How do I get out of here?" I questioned, I definitely hoped that this one fictional Salarian would know the way out of this delusion. Well if it is a delusion I always worry that my delusions might be real but that would insane to think like that or in my case more insane.

"wha-" This Salarian started aggravated me to no end I knew from his simple ignorant response that I would have to follow Voice's suggestion . All I wanted was to get out of this delusion and escape, is that so hard to ask for? Why does everything seem to get in my way?

"_Maybe if you hit harder"_

All I could think about is the endless time I had to spend in that ward and focused all my rage on this figment of my imagination. Too angry to care I slammed down my boot upon his stomach, his screams of pain felt good I have to say. None of this is real so its not like there is any consequences.

After ten or fifteen times of stomping I kind of lost count about how many times I did it. Looking over the damage I did, he is exceptionally bruised I could spot the swelling even through his clothing and he was writhing in pain his tears were a testament to that he even started coughing up blood, usually I might be worried that I went too far but right now that didn't matter.

"Ple..mercy" He coughed there was definitely a bit of blood pouring out of his mouth. Overall he was quite a pathetic picture placing my foot once more upon his neck I knew that I had only one option. Looking at him once more I realized that this was just some punk I was about to murder, just some kid who ended up on the wrong side of the law. Perhaps there are other options to take?

"_Hah please like this worm would give us mercy, who knows how many people this person has killed whether accidental or on purpose"_

"You wouldn't give me mercy..." with those words spoken I twisted my foot snapping his neck giving a satisfying cracking sound silencing his pathetic pleas. His body now lifeless merely looked at me just wondering why I did it and frankly I couldn't bring myself to care he did after all try to kill me so his loss I suppose. No wait, what am I thinking he's not real it should be fine.

My pondering was interrupted when piercing hot pain shattered my arm when I realized there were three very angry human individuals chasing me. I panicked, running I ran to the nearest alleyway. I could feel their shots upon me and my right arm was limply hanging upon my side. Luckily for me adrenaline pumped right through as my fight or flight system kicked in giving me the edge to escape.

Running I realized that every path looked exactly the same thanks to this damnable monotonous architecture by the Reapers. Its like the Reapers intended to bore their victims into a state of dullness before killing them and that may be the point actually. A shot whizzed right by my ear when I realized that this is definitely not the time for my ramblings.

I took a right and thankfully there were many side passages I could take through the corridor. I took the closest one I could see. Strangely their footsteps ceased as well did their shots. I can't believe that they gave up chase that quickly. It's like they didn't even care about me at least I hope they didn't get a good look at me because seeing my face with a wanted sign wouldn't be the best thing for me now to say the least. Now all I can imagine is Garrus Vakarian the sheriff trying to catch criminals with the full cowboy getup.

"_I imagine that they would be scavenging our little mess now"_

I hoped what Voice said was right even if it was a little morbid. But I can't be hampered by morals when I'm trying to survive this mess besides it's not real, it just can't be real. Pain flashed through my arm as I realized that the adrenaline from earlier wore off. I cant be feeling pain, this isn't real so how does it hurt me? Could this be real? I just murdered someone when I could have stopped myself.

"Did I kill a real person?" I question myself redundantly hoping that what I did wasn't the case.

"_Oh like we haven't killed people before, its fine"_

_"_I had a good reason those times"

"_And you didn't have one now?"_

"I see your point he did pull a gun on me" I noticed that my wound would most likely need medical attention, thankfully It would not hamper me too much. I couldn't thank the person who was careless enough to leave this oh so useful omnitool as I easily found my location and how to get to . She took anonymous patrons so at least I wouldn't be questioned too much or I hope so.


	3. Chapter 3

"Look Garrus Vakarian, going "Solo" on your C-sec duties is NOT standard procedure. Do I make myself clear?" Pallin tiredly pointed out

I wanted to go against his judgement, as a partner would only slow me down especially how much people can be a stickler for the rules. Usually I could get away with going "Lone Canine" atleast thats how I think that saying goes?

"who is being assigned to me?" I queried

"A Salarian by the name of Salak, good test scores but very little field expierance as a detective"

"I understand sir"

"Good"was all he retorted, taking the implied message I left his office

I figured this would be the case, it wasnt unusual for Pallin to assign me some newbies to babysit. His idea of a punishment I guess, now if I was a Spectre I wouldnt need Pallin or his "precious rules" either. Oh I really hope that my partner is a woman or maybe its a female Turian and Pallin was just keeping a secret.

"hey are you THE Garrus Vakarian? I cant believe I'm partners with you,your father is so amazing like how he single-handedly brought down the vile the Hanar crime lord or the dreaded bounty hunter Bob the Volus " gushed a male salarian , heavily gushed and I mean heavily. I guess a female Turian was to much to hope for...

By his appearance I could tell that this guy was very fresh from the academy. He looked about average height and looked like a very young Salarian, you could tell by the lack of wrinkles on him.

"Look if were going to be partners, could you drop the hero worship act its irritating" My words came out a lot harsher than expected

"oh ok.." his eyes casted down as his shoulders sagged, his eyes even started to go glassy nearing on the verge of tears. Nice going Garrus way to start a partnership, damn it...

"No look.. its just that I'm sick of everyone looking at my fathers exploits instead even bothering to know who I really am" I said dejectedly

"Oh uh sorry...I'm Salak by the way, should we start going?" I could tell he was trying to shift this very awkward conservation, one I was willing to oblige.

Gesturing to him we quickly went on our way to my hovercraft hoping that this patrol wont be filled with too much awkward conservations. I have enough of those from all my attempts at courtship, ugh so embarrassing.

"So were just doing patrol?" queried Salak

"yeah, unfortunately"

"So...is it true that you personally took down that serial killer Elcor?" Thankfully the edge of hero worship was out of his tone this time. I had to admit a tiny selfish bit of me wishes that he would revere me a little, I mean who doesnt like a little ego stroking from time to time.

"He was a tough one to bring down,"

"Arent they kind of slow?"

"Apparently he had access to some very top tier gear, he was more of a walking tank than anything"

"how did you get him then? I doubt standard issue weapons would work"

"Standard issue _hovercrafts _work" He was bewildered by the sheer audacity of my answer. I dont see why everyone questions me when I brought that up, it was a perfectly logical solution. What was I suppose to do anyway? letting him go away wasnt an option.

my internal rant was cut short when our radio crackled

"uh.. we have a homicide down here at these coordinates" the radio crackled, the person on the other line didnt sound too collected at all. Thier tone indicated that this wasnt your typical homicide to garner such a reaction

"Have you seen a dead body before salak?"

He merely shook his head.

"Then I'm sorry you have to see this"

The once pristine white Citadel floor was now coated in the old dried green blood of a cause of death is brutal, I could easily tell that there were several fractures in his torso most likely done for twisted pleasures of some sicko. His organs were ripped right out of him as indicated by the large amounts of blood splattered across the ground. At least he was dead before the harvesting began, a small silver lining I suppose. Very small...

"Salak I need you-"

Looking over my shoulder I noticed that Salak was just standing there behind me, motionless. Just staring at this unfortunate victim.

"Salak, I need you pull yourself together"

He was certainly quite pale for a Salarian , flopping to the floor he started dry heaving turning away from the horror show hoping that this would simply go away. I couldnt blame him, I too was distraught at the sight of would think that I would be use to seeing dead bodies because of serving in the military but seeing your dead comrades and enemies is far different than seeing this...

"Salak sitting there isnt going to bring this travesty to justice"

"how can you say that? You just expect to me simply soldier on and ignore this?" he growled

"Yes I actually do, when you put on that badge you serve the greater good of protecting society to catch the scum that does THIS"

"I..I...cant"

Grabbing him I forced him to look at the mutilated corpse in all its gruesome glory. Everytime he tried to look away i merely forced him to look at this poor victims ripped open torso as the sticky green blood gleamed brightly in the light

"LOOK AT IT!"

"Now tell me what you see"  
"It's a homicide" Salak barely managed to utter out in his clearly battered state of mind

"Now what are you going to do about it?"

"Find the killer"as he slumped into my arms

"Good, now let's go"

As I turned to follow the very convenient blood trail, my actions were especially harsh I admit but there just isn't any time for that. My actions have to be harsh, I am absolutely sick of seeing this as this makes 8 on the bodycount on this case. I am so close to getting some hard evidence on the "Ripper gang"

A cold silence was the only thing that was traded between us as we headed to clinic.


End file.
